The Flicker

H.E. Edgmon's middle grade debut is a captivating post-apocalyptic story told through an Indigenous lens, perfect for fans of The Marrow Thieves.

One year ago, a solar flare scorched the Earth and destroyed life as we know it.

With their parents gone and their supplies running low, grieving step-sisters Millie and Rose leave home with their infant half-brother in search of Millie’s grandma, a Seminole elder - who Millie knows in her gut is still alive, even if Rose isn't so sure. Along the way, they meet a group of other surviving kids calling themselves the Lost Boys and their lone adult leader, who reluctantly agree to help them brave the hostile wasteland to make it to Millie's grandma safely. But the landscape isn't the only threat - there's also the Hive, a villainous group that has spent the last year hoarding supplies and living in luxury . . . and will do anything to keep it that way.

Expertly balancing heartbreak and hope, The Flicker is both a thrilling survival story and a tender exploration of Indigenous ideas of identity and found family.

H.E. Edgmon is an author of queer speculative fiction across genres. Once a stray dog in the rural south, he now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest with a family of his own design. Haunted and hopeful, his work aims to offer levity without flinching from hard truths. In his writing and his daily life, H.E. will always prioritize the pursuit of an Indigenous future, the safety of our most vulnerable, and making a terrible joke whenever possible. His debut series, The Witch King duology, is out now.

“Millie and Rose grabbed my heart from the first page and refused to let go. . . Edgmon’s story world burns bright with nuanced, complex themes of identity, family—both blood and found, and the pursuit of hope, purpose, and love in a hostile and dying world.” —Terry J. Benton-Walker, bestselling author of Alex Wise vs the End of the World and Blood Debts

"Edgmon rips the reader apart, taking them past the point of certain hopelessness, and then — SOMEHOW! IMPOSSIBLY! — fixes them up with such skill and love, they will be left blinking in the sunlight." —Esme Symes-Smith, author of the Sir Callie series

"With unblinking honesty, this story invites readers to hope, and hope tenaciously for a better way of living." —Alder Van Otterloo, author of Cattywampus and The Beautiful Something Else